On the road last weekend, the 12th-ranked Brandeis men’s soccer team suffered two United Athletic Association losses against Carnegie Mellon and Emory. In Friday’s game against the 23rd-ranked CMU team, the Judges fell 2-1 against the Tartans in overtime. Against the Emory Eagles on Sunday, the Judges lost 3-1. The results from both games bring the Judges’ overall record to 11-4 and their UAA record to 1-3.
In a closely contested match against the CMU Tartans, in minute 71 the Judges were the first to score. Right when the Judges got their only two corner kicks of the game, the first cross by midfielder Kyle Feather ’14 led to a close attempt on goal by defender Ben Applefield ’14 that was deflected out by a CMU defender. Feather’s second corner kick found the head of defender Conor Lanahan ’16 who nailed the ball into the net to achieve his second goal of the season.
The Judges maintained the 1-0 lead until the 78th minute when the Tartans rebounded with a goal of their own. Brandeis goalkeeper Joe Graffy ’15 came off his line to meet the goal, but the Tartans’ Jerome Reano beat him to it and poked the ball into the corner of the net. Graffy was tested twice more in goal before the end of the period with one shot that went just wide and another that Graffy intercepted.
With a 1-1 score into overtime, both teams battled to get the game-winning goal. Brandeis had the first attempt on goal with defender Josh Hacunda ’16 stepping up to take a shot that went high over the goal post. The Tartans responded with a counter-attack that led to a shot by CMU’s Chris Wysocki that was saved by a diving Graffy, but the ball got loose and was deflected into the goal by a Brandeis player.
Graffy made a total of three saves for the game. The match signifies the Judges first time losing in overtime for the season. They now carry a 1-1 record in OT contests for the season.
In Sunday’s match against Emory, the Judges fell 3-1 to the home team. With an overall record of 10-4-1 and the top rank in the UAA, the Eagles managed two goals in the first half and one in the second against Brandeis. The win extended the Eagles’ undefeated streak to six games.
The Judges secured their only goal within the first 21 seconds of the game. A quick throw in from about 10 yards away from the end line reached midfielder Michael Soboff ’15 who went one-on-one with the Emory goalkeeper. Soboff then found forward Evan Jastremski ’17 open in the box and fed him the ball to finish it into the back of the net. The goal signifies Jastremski’s third of the season, while Soboff picked up his eighth assist tying with Applefield for best of the team.
The Eagles’ first goal came in the 19th minute of the game when they capitalized off a throw in of their own on the Judges’ end of the field. One Emory player was able to head the ball past Graffy off of the long throw. Their second goal came in minute 27 off a long run by an Emory player who cut through the Brandeis defenders and made a beeline for the goal. The player ripped the ball into the corner of the net past Graffy and sent Brandeis into halftime behind with a score of 2-1.
In the 53rd minute of the game, the Eagles scored their final goal for the game. Graffy blocked a shot by an Emory player but another player free in the box rebounded the ball into the goal.
The 3-1 score remained for the rest of the game, despite both teams having equal chances on goal with seven shots apiece. Graffy made a total of seven shots for the game while the Emory keeper had six. Brandeis even had more corner kick opportunities with seven crosses compared to the Eagles’ five. Although both teams almost measured up in statistics, the Judges were unable to create many offensive opportunities after their early goal in the first minute of the game.
Now carrying a record of 1-3 for their UAA matchups this season, the Judges have three more opportunities against Wash. U, Chicago and NYU to make up for their losses before the season ends. Their next game will be away to face Mount Ida on Oct. 28.